Tuna and Fennel Salad
Wafer-thin slices of fennel and apple topped with spring onions, tuna and lemon, olive oil and mirin dressing.
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Servings: people
Equipment
- 1 Mandolin slicer or food processor with fine cutting blade.
Ingredients
- 1 very large - or 2/3 small fennel bulb(s). Ideally choose one that has plenty of fronds on the top of the bulb! save two generous pinches of fennel frond for the tuna and to decorate
- 1 large or 2 small apple(s) - Braeburn is ideal
- 3 spring onions
- 1 pale green salad pepper - 'katsika' or goat pepper* optional
- ½ banana chilli pepper
- 1 tsp dried fennel powder
- 1½ lemons - with a thin slice of lemon set aside
- 1 generous tsp mirin seasoning or sweet rice wine or rice vinegar
- 1 180-200g jar of tuna in oil or water
- olive oil
- salt and freshly ground white pepper black pepper is also fine
Instructions
- Zest the lemon. Chop a generous pinch of the fennel fronds. Mix and set aside.
- Squeeze the juice from the zested lemon and add to the food processor or salad bowl in which you will slice the fennel, apple etc. Add an equal amount of olive oil.
- Finely slice the apple. If it's organic - there is no need to peel it. Toss the apple in the bowl to cover it in the sauce to prevent it from browning. Continue slicing the fennel, including the rest of the fronds, the peppers and two of the spring onions. Empty the contents of the food processor (not necessary if using the mandolin!) into the salad bowl and toss well with a tsp of dried fennel and mirin seasoning: cover and refrigerate to marinade.
- Strain the tuna (if in water) and mix it with freshly ground white pepper, very finely chopped spring onion and the zest mixture. Add olive oil and juice from the remaining lemon to taste.
- When you are ready to serve - remove the salad from the fridge. Check for seasoning. I don't add salt, but add, if it needs it, together with more ground pepper/oil and lemon juice again if it needs it. Decorate with remaining fennel fronds and your reserved slice of lemon - delicately remove the peel and the pith, leaving you with small triangles of lemon to decorate the tuna. Serve with crusty bread or rice salad.
Notes
*'katsika' or goat peppers are readily available from May onwards—a sweet pepper with a slight bite that is perfect for salads. If unavailable locally, maybe replace it with finely sliced celeriac juliennes (matchsticks) but don't use green bell peppers. I think they would spoil the flavour. If you choose celeriac, it will need at least 30 minutes of marinating.
